Torn Apart
by Yurichan678
Summary: This is my first fanfic. Yes of course it includes my OC Catherine. It also includes Netherlands (Hansen), Belgium (Bella), and Luxembourg (Nate). If your wondering the character Luke is not any country, he's just a normal kid. Enjoy


Torn Apart

Life was pleasant at home. I had a lot of toys, grand gardens, and a loving family. I lived with my parents, my older brothers Hansen and Nate, and my older sister Bella. We were rich merchants. Hansen ran the business with my father while Nate and Bella spent there time studding and looking after me. Even Amsterdam was nice. For a big city it was clean and there was hardly any crime. My life was perfect, until night of the revolt.

March 1, 1572

BANG! I was startled awake by the sound of a gun. I was scared out of my mind, but then again any child would have. I crept down the hall to Hansen's room only to find it empty, actually all my siblings' rooms were empty. I was about to go see my parents when I saw a light on downstairs. I crept down and put my ear to the parlor door. "What are we going to do, with the revolts going on it's not safe for her any more" Bella said from behind the door. "I know" said Hansen. There was silence for a moment. "Look I know this isn't ideal but we have no other choice" Hansen said sighing. "What you want to send her away!" Nate yelled. "Quiet down Nate, You'll wake her." Hansen said. "And I don't like this any more than you do but it may be our only choice" I was fighting back tears at this point. My own brother, who had loved and cared for me more than anyone, was willing to send me away. "So where will she go" Bella said sadly. I couldn't take it any more; I burst into the room and buried my face in Hansen's lap. "I don't wanta go away" I cried. "Now now Catherine, we only want to keep you safe. War is no place for a little girl" Hansen said picking me up and putting me on his lap. "Big brothers right" Bella said wiping a tear from my face. "War?" I asked. "Yes, many people are unhappy with the way the Spanish are treating our nation. So they have decided to rise up against them" Hansen explained. "But why not just do it nicely with talking and paper, why war?" I pressed. "We tried that but the Spanish wouldn't listen, so we must go to war" Nate added. I looked up at Hansen, he looked so much older and worn out than usual. "Come now let's get you off to bed."

I had a few days before I was to leave. It was decided I'd go stay in Lowestoft England until the revolts died down. The one problem was I had no knowledge of English. "Don't worry, well be sending you with Arabell, she knows English" Bella had assured me the next day, yet somehow I was still unsure about it. In my last days at home I spent most of my time in the gardens. The gardener, Dedrick, gave me some tulip bulbs and told me to plant them in a good spot when I got there. And on my last night the head chief, Issac, made me my favorite dinner, potato and celeriac soup with gouda cheese. "Have you got everything you need" Hansen asked after dinner. "You bet!" I said smiling. I tried to be happy for him; mother always said that something as simple as a smile could make anything easier for a person. He smiled back at me. "Well then how about you come with me and I might have something else to give you" he said beckoning for me to follow him. I hastily got up almost tripping over my dress and ran to follow him. He brought me into his office, which I had only ever been in once before, and riffled through a drawer. From it he pulled out a small cloth flag. It was the Dutch Republic flag. Orange, White, and Blue stripes. I stared at the flag. "Thank you brother" I said, staring at it in wonder. "Don't worry." He lifted my chin to look in my eyes. "Now as long as you keep that close you will always have a piece of home."

The boat ride to England was long and tiring. Many of the men on board were English and frequently chatted in their unusual language. They all looked at me funny, but it wasn't my fault they'd never seen the light of day! When we came to port I saw a much different sight then the one I'd just left. The city of Lowestoft was bustling with people and was quite dingy. Arabell led me off the boat holding my hand as we walked to our new home. The people all looked so different. The men wore fancy suites and large top hats while the women wore large dresses in different colours with lots of lace. Even the children were dressed similarly. I felt so strange in my favorite blue dress. And everyone kept looking at me. I nervously looked up at Arabell and she smiled down at me. "Don't worry little one" she said to me. We made it to our new home, a small apartment building far from the water. Out in the street kids were playing with balls and rope. A few of the kids looked at me oddly as Arabell led me inside. Once inside we were greeted by the landlord. She rambled on in English to Arabell then she knelt down and tried to speak to me. "She asking for you name little one" Arabell said to me. I nodded up at her. "Catherine" I said shyly. The landlord said something more in English then handed Arabell a key. Our room was on the third floor and was much smaller than my old home. All we had was a small parlor, a kitchen, and a room for each of us. It might have been small but I grew to love it over the years. That begun our life in England.

July 6, 1572

It had been several months since we first came to England yet I barely knew any English. The language was so different from Dutch. Even though there were many similar sounds they all meant different things. It was quite confusing. And it didn't help any that I didn't have any friends to practice with either. Well for a time anyways. One afternoon I was sitting in the yard on a bench looking at the little flag Hansen had given me and a boy came up beside me. "What ya lookin' at" he asked looking over my shoulder. I jumped bumping my on his. "Sorry did I scare you" he said worriedly. I nodded not knowing what exactly to say. "Sorry" the boy said sitting next to me, "so what is it your looking at." "Country flag" I said holding it up for him to see. "So you come from a different country" he asked. I nodded again. "Then I'm guessing you don't know much English" he said smiling. "Ja" I said looking down. "My. Name. Is. Luke" he said slowly. "What. Is. Your. Name." "My name Catherine" I said. We sat there for a moment Luke was staring at me. "Your pretty" he said. I blushed; in my whole time in England no one had ever said that to me. "Catherine if I help you with English will you teach me your language" he asked. "I love to" I said smiling. "Great! Come with me, I'll introduce you to my friends" Luke said happily dragging me off. In my whole time in England Luke was the most important person to me; he was the only one who under stood me.

July 20, 1589

"Come on Catherine, were going to miss the show." That was the happiest day of my life. Many years had passed and both Luke and I were teens now. Luke had bought us tickets to see a touring magic show that had stopped in our town. "I'm coming but it's not easy to run in a dress" I said catching up to him. "Not my fault you're a girl" he said mockingly. I hit him in the back of the head for it. "Oww" he complained as he rubbed the spot I'd just hit. We walked into the tent that had been set up in the square just as the show began.

"That was amazing" Luke said after the show was done. "That was, if I might say so, _magical_" I said. Luke laughed even though it was a really bad joke. We went to pier after like we always did in the afternoon. Luke got quiet all of a sudden, which was odd for him. "What's wrong Luke" I asked looking at him. "Well, um, I've been meaning to tell you something." He wouldn't meet my eyes. "Come on, spit it out" I said edging him on. "Look I really like you" he said looking up. He was blushing bright red. "I like you too, you're my best friend" I said smiling. "No it's more than that, Catherine I love you." His words took my breath away. For years I'd felt my self being drawn to him but I never knew what to say so I just kept being his friend. I met his eyes. "Luke I love you too." He smiled and let me put my head on his shoulder. "Never leave my side, Luke."

Febuary 9, 1648

Many more years went by and Luke and I were quite happy. Other kids thought it was weird that Luke could fall in love with a Dutch girl like me but that never diterd him. My life was perfect once again and some days I would even forget my old home all together. But then the day came when I had to leave Lowestoft. Luke and I had just come in from another perfect afternoon when the landlord stoped me. "Ah, Catherine there's a man here to see you" she said. She showed me to a room off the main hall where an older looking man sat. "Hallo" he said. It took me a minuet to realize he was speaking in Dutch. "The war is over. Your family is requesting you come home" he said. "T-the war is over" I asked speechless. "Yes, a treaty was sighned less then a fortnight ago" he said, "I will come to get you in three days time to leave for home." "Thank you" I said and the man left. I sat there for a moment, shocked out of my mind. "What was that all about" Luke asked when I came out of the room. "Well, the war is over" I said. "Thats great" said Luke smiling at me. "No it's not. I've been asked to return home. I have to leave" I started to cry. All I wanted was to do was stay with him. Luke envolped me in his arms. "Don't worry about that now we still have time." Three days went by really quickly. Even though Luke and I spent every second together saying goodbye was really hard. Luke walked with me to the pier on my last day. I wished he could come with me to Holland but he had his own family here. We embraced one last time. "I'm sorry" I said on the verge of tears. He only squeezed me tighter. I walked on to the boat watching Luke the whole time. Just as we were taking off Luke yelled. "I swear one day I'll come and be with you so just wait" he yelled. "I will" I yelled back.

Febuary 12, 1648

Amsterdam haden't changed much since I'd last been there. Neither had my old house. Arabell and I walked up to the door and it was opened by Bella. "Catherine" Bella yelled pulling me into her arms, "oh my you've grown so much." Somehow she looked older and quite worn out. She beconed Arabell and I in. Nate was waiting for us in the parlor. "Catherine, I'm so glad your back" he said giving me a hug. We sat down and had a cup of tea. "Where's Hansen" I asked. The colour drained from Bella's face and Nate looked down. "You'd better come with me" Bella said. She lead me out to the canal. Close to the bank a gravemarker stood alone. I felt my heart sink and tears come to my eyes. As I got closer I read the name, Hansen Meesters. I sunk to the ground and cried. Bella kneeled next to me, she was also crying. "Why did you leave me, you promised me that you'd be here when I got back but you left!" I yelled at the headstone. Bella put a hand on my shoulder. "Hansen left you this" Bella said handing me Hansen's faveorite pipe. I grabbed it gingerly from her hands turnning it over in my hands. Bella stood up wiping her tears away and left me alone at the headstone. I sat there for a while longer then got up and walked back to the house. When I got in I went right to Hansen's office. The room haden't changed one bit since I'd last saw it. The only thing that was different was a sheet of paper on the desk. It was a note that read...

_Dear, Catherine_

_Please forgive me. I have committed great sins. Sins worse then any other. I have killed many men in this eternal war. I can only hope that in death God will forgive my sins. That is not all but I have broke our promise. I promised you that I'd always be with you but that is no longer possible. I hope you can forgive me. You will forever be the heart and soul of this land. I will love you forever, even in death. _

On the desk were folders of unfinshed work. I wiped the tears of childhood off my cheaks and let out a sigh. "Well I better get to work."

September 18, 1658

Years went by and I spent most of my days working on my brothers old projects. But not a day went by when I didn't think of Luke or Hansen. I'd lost both of the most important men in my life and now everything seemed so gray. Until one day when I was in the middle of another project and Nate knocked on the office door. "Sister there is someone at the door for you" he said from the other side of the door. "Thank you, I'll be right there" I called back. I put the down the papers I was working on and came to the front door. Standing in the main hall was Bella talking with another man. The man looked up a me as I came in. "Catherine you haven't changed one bit" he said. His voice sounded so familar. "L-luke" I said. He nodded and smiled. Tears started to form in my eyes. I ran towards my lover and embraced him. "Just like I promised, I came back for you."


End file.
